“Civil,” Andy said. Jake’s impression didn’t change so he added, “Kind of like city planning and stuff.”

“You know what they make?” Jake asked. Andy stared at him and he continued. “Not nearly enough. Barely enough to live on. And if—”

“Could you go down to the basement and find the St. Patrick’s Day decorations?” I asked him, gently nudging him toward the kitchen.

“The what? Andy and I are having a conversation.”

“They’re in a big, green tub. In the very back of the workroom. I need to go through them for something.” I smiled sweetly at him. “Thank you.”

He started to say something, then frowned again. He gave Andy a dirty look and then reluctantly trudged off for the basement.

“Don’t mind him,” I told Andy after I heard the basement door close. “Em is almost ready.”

“Okay.”

I waited for him to relax but he sat there, statue-like. “So. Are you a basketball fan?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he said. “But our team is pretty bad.”

“That’s what Em said.”

“Are you gonna kiss her?” a voice called down from the top of the stairs.

“Grace!” I yelled. “Get in your room and close your door.”

Giggles echoed down the stairs, followed by footsteps above us and then the sound of a door closing.

I smiled at Andy. “You told me you have a sibling, right?”

He nodded. “Yes. A younger sister.”

“Then you know how...interesting...they can be.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Interesting.”

Emily walked out of her room and smiled nervously. “Hi.”

Andy jumped to attention, nearly leaping off of the sofa. “Hi.”

All we needed was a blinking neon sign that said AWKWARD above them and the scene would’ve been complete.

“Do you have your I.D.?” she asked him. “Bailey just texted me and said you have to have an I.D. to get in or they will totally hassle you.”

“I have mine, yeah,” he said.

“Why are they hassling people?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Emily said. “Bailey said it’s because of Amanda Pendleton.”

“Amanda?” I said, not understanding. “She doesn’t even go to Prism.”

“Yeah, but everyone is all freaked out about her,” she said. “So I guess Prism hired a security guard or something? To check I.D.s? I don’t know.”

It sounded like something Prism would do.

“Yeah, I heard that,” Andy said. “I think they’re doing it at Moose River, too. Like they think by checking I.D.s, they’ll figure out what happened to her.”

“Exactly,” Em said. “Everyone thinks she was kidnapped and like the kidnapper will bring an I.D. that says ‘kidnapper’ on it.”

Andy laughed and Emily beamed and visions of white wedding dresses and enormous floral arrangements and tacky wedding cakes flashed through my head. I quickly erased them. First date, I reminded myself. First date.

“People really think she was kidnapped?” I asked, trying to get back to the topic at hand. “I thought most people were saying she ran away.”

Emily shrugged. “I don’t know. People are all just weirded out over it.”

“But she ran away before, right?”

They both nodded.

I shook my head. Extra vigilance wasn’t a bad idea, especially if someone knew more about her disappearance than I did. But after my conversation with Detective Hanborn, it seemed as if everyone had settled on the idea that she had taken off on her own. Not a hint of foul play, at least according to Hanborn. And even Amanda’s family seemed certain that it was nothing to be worried over.

“I can’t find the St. Patrick’s box, Daisy!” Jake yelled up from the basement, his voice traveling through the heating ducts. “Does it say decorations on it?”

“I don’t remember!” I called back. “Just keep looking.”

“We should probably go,” Andy said.

“Yeah,” Emily said, then she looked at me. “Why is he looking for St. Patrick’s Day decorations?”

“Because I told him to,” I answered as I followed them to the kitchen.

“But that’s months away,” Emily said. “And we don’t have St. Patrick’s Day decorations.”

“I know.” I smiled at both of them and opened the door. “You two have a great time.”

THIRTY ONE

Emily made it home around ten and was in a great mood. I took that as a sign that the date went well and resisted the urge to ask for a second-by-second recap. I just asked if she had a good time and she smiled and said yes and disappeared into her room. It was enough for me. For now.

After a half hour of searching, Jake came back upstairs, dirty, sweaty, and frustrated that he couldn’t find the box. I told him it was okay, it could wait and we’d look for it the next day.

We’d gone to bed and I woke up early the next morning. I got Emily and Jake off to school and work, respectively, then after feeding the other three waffles and smoothies, got them out the door when Brenda pulled up. Her kids were in need of some play time, so Brenda had offered to take them for the day and I accepted the offer.

I was just getting used to the quiet in the house when there was a knock on the door.

Joanne Claussen waved at me through the window.

I opened the door and a blast of cold air hit me. There was snow in the forecast for later in the week and I was trying to mentally prepare myself for winter’s onslaught.

It wasn’t working.

“Hi,” I said, motioning her inside. “Come on in.”

“I’m sorry to just drop in on you like this,” she said, her hands shoved tightly into the pockets of her coat. “But I wasn’t sure when I’d see you again.”

I closed the door behind her. “That’s okay. And, yeah. Figured we should talk about the program.”

She stood in the kitchen, running a hand through her curly hair, her nose a startling shade of pink from the cold. “I was sorry to hear...about whatever happened between you and Eleanor.”

“She didn’t make some grand announcement?” I asked.

“Just that you’d no longer be at the theater and that it was at her request,” she said. A nervous smile creased her lips. “And that I should speak with you about the program.”

Much of the anger and frustration I’d felt two days earlier after my confrontation with Eleanor threatened to resurface. But I didn’t want the negative energy to eat up my day. So I took a deep breath and reminded myself to let it go.

“I’m happy to finish up the program,” I told Joanne. It wasn’t true but I sold it well. “If you’re fine with that. I can have it finished this morning and off to the printer today. I can have it delivered to you when it’s done so that I don’t have to bring it by the theater.”

She looked like she might cry tears of joy. “Really?”

“Sure. I don’t have a problem with you or the program. I’m happy to finish it.”

She exhaled. “Oh my gosh, Daisy. That would be so fantastic. The whole way over here, all I kept thinking about was how in the world was I going to finish that program.” She smiled the nervous smile again. “And to be clear, I wouldn’t have blamed you one bit if you didn’t want to finish it. You’re a bigger person than I am.”

“I don’t know about that,” I told her, thinking about how I’d sulked and railed over the injustices of being banned from the theater. “But I’m happy to finish it up today. Unless Eleanor gave you orders for something else.”

She winced, then shook her head. “She didn’t. And since I’m in charge of it, I’m going to leave it with you. Because I really appreciate it.”

Joanne was a nice lady. I just needed to remind myself that I was helping her more than Eleanor. Like my girls, she didn’t need to be penalized because Eleanor and I had had a disagreement.

“Okay then,” I said. “I’ll get it over to the printers this afternoon. I’ll let you know when it’ll be ready.”

“Thank you so much,” she said, sighing again. “Given everything else that doesn’t seem ready, it’s a relief to know that at least this is taken care of.”

I leaned back against the kitchen counter. I should have invited her in, offered her a cup of coffee, but she didn’t look like she wanted to stay. “Other things aren’t ready?”